In
79 AD, the Romans under Agricola invaded Scotland and
advanced as far as the Tay. The following year, forts
were established on the Clyde-Forth line and areas already
over-run consolidated. It is possible that the Loudoun
Hill fort was established then with only a limited incursion
beyond this and the same to the south in the Nithsdale
area.

In
81 AD, Agricola moved troops into the west and south-west
and investigated the possibility of a west coast invasion
route as well as an invasion of Ireland. The year after
that he led his forces northward up the east coast until
his victory at Mons Grapius in 83 AD.

This
was followed by a period of consolidation (the Flavian
period) but troops had to be transferred from Britain
to the Balkans to make up for losses and this led to
a gradual withdrawal over the next few years to the
Tyne-Solway line, certainly by the turn of the century.

In 142 AD, they readvanced (the Antonine period), this
time to the line of the Clyde and Forth where they built
the Antonine Wall. Loudoun fort was reoccupied and fortlets
and a road in the Greenock - Largs area were built.
Again, they stayed for about 20 years but withdrew to
Hadrian's Wall in the 160's with the exception of some
forts in the south west from which patrols could be
mounted.

While these periods of 20 years or so sound very little
in the context of the 400 or more years the Romans were
in Britain, they would have been long enough to build
roads in the area and thoroughly affect the lives of
the local population. An idea of how much they could
have built is given by William Taylor in his work The
Military Roads of Scotland (p.97): the normal rate for
the soldiers working on the military road to Portpatrick
in the 1760's was at least 1 1/2 yards for a nine-hour
day. This means that 1000 Roman soldiers could have
built one mile a day, and perhaps up to 100 miles in
any one year. As the network of actual and probable
Roman roads in Scotland is about 400 miles in length,
it can be assumed that their construction could easily
have been completed in a relatively short time within
the overall period of occupation; and no doubt, the
construction of other roads still to be discovered.

The only other Roman incursion was that of Severus in
209 AD (the Severan period) but this was directed at
northern tribes and did not affect the Ayrshire area.
Patrols may have continued in the south west until the
290's but after this time the increasing activity of
the northern tribes and the Irish made even this impossible.

It has to be remembered that this period was still the
Iron Age or the age of the Celts. The Damnonii and Novantae
were still there and continued in a recognisable form
into and through the Dark Ages, i.e. the period after
the Romans left Britain. They still had their settlements
and carried out their normal activities as much as they
could in what must have been difficult times. Their
network of routes, whatever it was, continued to exist
and would have been used by the Romans when they entered
the area. The question is, whether the Romans consolidated
this network by using it for their roads and extended
it by constructing new roads or whether they bypassed
Ayrshire and built hardly any roads at all.

One such theory suggests that the Romans did not in
fact occupy the whole of Ayrshire, having written off
the territory of the Novantae as not necessary for their
purposes. The line of the Solway road would show the
southern limes or border with the forts at Gatehouse
and Newtown Stewart guarding the hills to the north;
to the east and north would be the Nith Valley road
and forts with a link to Loudoun Hill.
(1)
Even if this theory is correct, it does not mean the
Romans were never in Ayrshire. Clearly they were, as
witness the marching camps at Girvan. It is reasonable
to assume a widespread infiltration of the area and
these lines of march could well approximate to the various
routes detailed below.

Routes

Over
the years, historians and archaeologists have tried
to identify possible Roman roads in Ayrshire. A review
article by Allan Wilson(2)
is particularly useful in detailing this work.

Move
cursor over road.

Roman
Road network proposed by researchers - only two roads
have been proved

Although
many possible routes have been put forward only two
have been universally accepted, viz. the route from
Castledykes in central Lanarkshire to the fort at Loudoun
Hill and perhaps onward to Irvine (no.1 below) and one
at Outerwards above Largs (no.2 below). Others again
although not proven are worth serious consideration
while others are almost certainly not Roman. In fact,
it is very difficult to have a road recognised as Roman
unless Roman finds or structures such as a camp are
clearly associated with it. The following list then
should in no way be taken to imply that Ayrshire had
an extensive network of Roman roads. It is merely a
reasonably comprehensive overview of what has been proposed,
with some indication of those roads that might be Roman.

It is as well to remember the distinction between lines
of march linked to the actual invasion and actual roads
built in a period of consolidation. They could coincide,
i.e. a road be built along a line of march but not necessarily
so. Examples would be the marching camps at Girvan,
and the camp at West Newton near Strathaven, which could
imply a north south march from the Muirkirk area, rather
than east west as implied by the Loudoun Hill road.
This means that some of the routes mentioned above may
indicate lines of march rather than actual roads.

Proved

1.
To Loudoun Hill fort

A
known Roman road runs from Castledykes in Lanarkshire
towards the fort at Loudoun Hill. It can be clearly
seen today south of Stonehouse and at the time of the
Military Survey of Scotland around 1750 could be traced
as far as Westlinbank, south-west of Strathaven. Surprisingly
it hasn't been traced beyond this point to the fort
although it undoubtedly existed. It has been conjectured
by many that it continued onwards to Irvine but no definite
traces have been found.

2.
Largs to Bishopton

From the 1960's onwards, Newall and others identified
a road system in the hills above Largs
(3). The main road went from
the fort at Barochan in Renfrewshire and led up to a
fortlet at Lurg and the moors around Loch Thom. It then
ran to another fortlet at Outerwards and then along
high ground to the south of Largs where its course could
not be found, although work by Newall and Lonie indicates
a section near Fairlie may be Roman.
(4)

There
was a patrol track a couple of miles to the west of
this road. Its course in Ayrshire was Blackfield Loch,
Fardens and Outerwards where it rejoined the main road.
This took an almost straight track from Loch Thom to
Berry Hill and Outerwards and then to Blackhouse Moor,
Brisbane and Largs. There are quarry pits and holloways
on the Blackhouse Moor ridge, and a spur road that led
over the Noddsdale Burn to Girtley Hill and possibly
to Gretco Bridge.

The
make up of these roads varied along their length but
were approximately 15 feet wide, often on an agger or
on a terrace and sometimes with ditches still to be
seen. When crossing boggy ground brushwood was laid
on upturned peat and the road material on top of that.

Possible

1. Irvine Valley

As
mentioned above, it is thought likely that a road ran
from the Loudoun Hill fort towards Irvine where there
may have been a fort and where the Damnonian tribal
centre of Vindogara may have been located. No traces
have been found although the entry for Galston parish
in the New Statistical Account says that the old Roman
road can still be seen on the other (north) side of
the Irvine. An old road was examined north of Newmilns
in 1960 but no definite date was attributed to it.
(5) The
road is on Dalwhatswood Farm and is twelve feet wide
with kerbstones and gravel and small stones laid on
a base of larger stones. Newall(6) suggests
that "Wallace's Fort" on the east side of Loudoun Hill
could be a Roman fortlet, referring to the N-S alignment
of holloways and a wide cobbled substratum exposed on
the Irvine's banks 200 yards upstream from the location.

2. Loudoun Hill
to Barochan

Newall, Lonie and Sinclair reported a possible road
from Loudoun Hill north over the moors which may have
led to the fort at Barochan.
(7) Its course is Newlands,
Tongue, Lamb Hill, Low Overmoor, High Overmuir, west
of Crook Hill and Myers Hill, Carrot Burn and Loch Hill.
The road was traced to NS566468 but there are traces
suggesting a continuation to Greenfield and Ballageich,
and its general direction suggests Barochan as the terminus.

It
is close to the course of the track between High Overmuir
and Crook Hill but separate from it. Its construction
is of clay and road metal and is approximately 5.5 metres
wide.

3. Muirkirk to Douglas;
Muirkirk to Nith Valley

This
is the continuation of a road that Newall and Lonie
thought ran to Muirkirk from Loudoun Hill but was not
accepted by the Ordnance Survey as Roman (see next section,
road 1). From Muirkirk, it appears to continue south
along the rough line of the proposed Muirkirk - Sanquhar
turnpike(8)
although it deviates from this in many places.

Just
south of Pepper Hill, the road bifurcates. One leg passes
into Lanarkshire heading east towards Tinto via the
south slopes of Mid Hill, Auchendaff Hill and Hartwood
Hill and then towards Parkhead Hill above Douglas. The
other heads to Connor Hill (perhaps from conaire, Gaelic
for a path), East Fordibban Hill, Black Hill, Crook
Brae, Craigdullyeart Hill, Edge Hill, Airds Hill and
Avisyard Hill. The road is between 7 and 8 metres in
width, again of clay topped with gravel, and in places
covered with over two metres of peat.

4. Nith Valley

Clarke(9) in
a study of the Nithsdale route suggests a possible road
from the fortlet at Bankhead, near Kirkconnel, on the
terrace above the Nith. This would avoid the valley
bottoms and slopes where ambushes would be easy. He
describes a possible stretch of Roman road at Glenn,
near to a suggestively named house called Street. This
is 16 feet wide with a bottom of large cobbles, and
24 feet wide when side ditches are included. The line
he suggests is Glenmucklock, Crichtons, Hillhead and
Bankhead.

Wilson
studies the same route.(10)
He noted there was a road 70 yards from the fort and
reckoned that it could have headed for Corsencon Hill
along the route suggested by Clarke. Alternatively,
it could have followed a route west of this, aligning
with the old parish road from Mach to Street at Corsencon
Farm.

From here, it would have avoided low ground and Avis
Hill and may have headed for Avisyard Hill where there
was a long tradition of a camp. One possible route would
be via Mounthope and the ford at Muirfoot Burn, the
other through Iron Gates near Glen Farm and Grieve Hill
Colliery at Watsonburn.

This
latter route contained the section examined by Clarke
but Wilson reckons that the sharply scalped margins
are a strong indication that it is an old coal road
superseded by the one constructed by Sir Charles Stuart
Menteith. This ran over the back of Corsencon Hill to
the "inclined plane" where waggons could trundle down
towards Kirkconnel under the influence of gravity. He
admits however that it could be a Roman road remade
at that time.

Lonie and Newall (11)
deal with two stretches of possible
Roman road which could be a continuation of the Bankhead
- Hillhead - Glen route. From Glen it was traced to
Mounthope heading west towards the Muirfoot Burn. Two
miles further on a stretch of road runs from NS612159
to just above Lowesmuir, passing to a stream crossing
where there are holloways running to a ruined bridge
which may be 18th century.

Its course would follow the present parish boundary
and link to a short stretch of reputed drove road near
Avisyard. Beyond that point, it could have continued
north towards Hurlford. Wilson (1995) suggests a possible
crossing of the Lugar in Cumnock where there are massive
sandstone blocks incorporated in the A76 bridge.

Clarke and Wilson (12)
sought to establish the northward
route by looking at crossings over the River Cessnock
and the River Ayr. At the Cessnock they looked at two
holloways (sunken paths where the track has been eroded
by the passage of traffic) just west of Howford Bridge
but discarded these in favour of another more in line
with the river. The Cessnock had been crossed at a ford
(NS476328) and at an earlier bridge, remains of which
were visible east of the ford and west of the 1840's
Howford Bridge.

They excavated south of the track leading from the main
road to Carnell and found four roads running north-south.
These were a Macadam road, a high-cambered earlier 18th
century road, an older road bottom of smallish cobbles
and a very worn road with a slight camber and a bottoming
of large stones.

The
Macadam road was very close to the main road and ran
to the earlier bridge and illustrated the Macadam technique
of using small stones directly laid onto the ground,
a slight camber, and shallow ditches. The early 18th
century road was 12 foot wide of loose gravelly earth
and smallish cobbles at the base. It may be the road
shown on Roy's map of c.1750. The third road was 16
foot wide with kerbs of large stones, a bottoming of
large cobbles and a cover of compacted small stones.
They considered both these roads to have been 18th century
and to have run to the west, as there was no trace of
either 200 yards to the south.

The
fourth road lined up with the ford that Lebon(13)
says was used by the Dumfries road in the 17th century.
They looked at two holloways that led to adjacent fording
points. One to the west was large and deep with no signs
of modification but the other, which was 12 foot wide,
had a bottoming of large cobbles and was traced on the
other side of the river. They reckoned the smaller ford
and road were older than the larger, possibly mediaeval
track.

In trying to trace the route to the south, they could
only find the Macadam road at Bargower (cutting out
the bend of the 19th century road) and no traces as
far as the water tower to the north of Mauchline. However,
in the field just south of the water tower on the line
of the main road before the bend there was a very decayed
road 14-foot wide with ditches and a cobbled bottom.
This was aligned to the ford on the River Ayr (NS503254)
along a holloway 100 yards to the west of the ford.

On
the south side of the ford, the holloway was 34 foot
wide with a 13-foot wide bottom laid with river cobbles.
Cuts in an adjacent field showed a 9-foot wide loose
cobbling scattered at the edges, along with a crop mark.

Just
north-west of here there is an interesting instance
of the placename Cauldcot, in this case Cauldcothill.
In his book on Roman Roads, Codrington(14)
says that Coldcotts or Cauldcotts is invariably found
beside a Roman road. It had the meaning of cold cottages
or cold harbour where travellers could take respite
from the weather or pass the night. It may refer to
the north - south road being discussed here or even
one from the Galston area towards Ayr. Certainly, the
high ground would be reasonable for the placing of a
road. As a matter of interest for those who find difficulty
in the idea of this placename being a pointer to a Roman
road there is an example from just over the border in
Lanarkshire at Cauldcotts Farm near Strathaven which
is passed by the Loudoun Hill road.

If
a road did head for Hurlford, Wilson (2)
suggests two routes beyond the ford. One would have
led to the Beansburn ford on the Crawfordland Water
and then to Fenwick and along the Kingswell Burn to
Kingswell where the pre-turnpke ran to the north of
Drumboy Hill towards Mearns. The other route would have
ran from Kingswell on the line of the Eaglesham Moor
Road (B764), which had been mapped by Roy, and perhaps
headed for the fort at Bothwellhaugh.

5. Ayr-Dalmellington
Road

For
more details about this road and its continuation to
Kirkcudbright as a "pack road" and the link
to Nithsdale, see the Miscellaneous section of this
website - The
Ayr - Kirkcudbright Road

6. Kirkmichael

Newall
reports a road near Kirkmichael.
(15)
It is 7 - 9 metres wide with a camber and runs from
north of Barshean Loch towards Drumbuie and to the south
of Dryrock Hill. It probably continues towards Orchard
towards the Drumore ridge. As Barshean Loch is only
two miles from the Ayr-Dalmellington road it may well
have led from this.

7. North-South Coastal
Route

With
the discovery of Flavian marching camps at Girvan (NX190990
and NX186990), it is clearly possible that there was
a route along or near to the coast.

Wilson
(2) notes that the pre-turnpike
runs from Auchencrosh through Glenapp Castle grounds,
crossing the Stinchar below the castle. An interesting
unclassified road runs past the standing stones of Garleffin.

North
of Ballantrae the pre-turnpike kept to the line of the
A77 as far as Bennane Lea (NX093859) when it swung round
the back of Bennane Head to Balereuchan Port. The difficult
Kennedy's Pass was avoided between Pinbairn Burn and
Ardwell. From here to Girvan, the A77 could mark a Roman
line. For this section, St Joseph suggests a coastal
route. No evidence of a Ballantrae - Girvan route via
the Stinchar valley has been found.

Between
Girvan and Ayr, Wilson suggests that the pre-turnpike
shows no evidence of Roman engineering. Nor are there
signs of a road along the higher ground to the east.
Newall and Lonie (16)
suggest a route along the Girvan
Water from Dipple through Purley hill and Threave towards
Low Burncrooks. The route suggests a Doon crossing or
perhaps a link with the possible stretch near Kirkmichael
at Drumore.

Again, it is not definite that the pre-turnpike between
Ayr and Irvine marks any Roman road but there have been
suggestive finds along this route (2).
The pre-turnpike ran towards Prestwick Toll and can
be traced by alignments on Whinfield Road, the cricket
ground and Sandfield and Caerlaverock Roads to NS354264.
There is a crossing over the Pow Burn on this line and
it then veers towards Irvine after Monkton. Its terminus,
after crossing the River Irvine by the ford at the town,
would have been a fort or a harbour at Vindogara. Indeed,
Pococke in 1760 saw earthworks in the area that he thought
looked Roman.(17)

From
Irvine towards Largs, Wilson notes that a Roman road
would probably have followed the pre-turnpike to the
ford at Kilwinning thus avoiding the Bogside mudflats
and then perhaps turning towards the coast at Stevenston
and Saltcoats although he notes that there is no evidence
to substantiate this. There were settlements in this
area from the earliest times. From Saltcoats the pre-turnpike
followed the coast but veered inland at Seamill on a
higher line than the present road.
South of Largs, at Fairlie, Newall and Lonie (18)
found a stretch of road, which may
be Roman. There have been a number of finds in the Largs
area.

Newall and Lonie (19)
propose a different line from
the Kilwinning area. The road they found runs from Lochwood
just north of Kilwinning (Lochwood) to Muirslaught,
Meikle Ittington, just above Knowewait to Blackshaw
Hill then past Drummilling above West Kilbride. It then
runs past Thirdpart to swing around Goldenberry Hill
to terminate near Stoney Port on the coast. They believe
there was a substantial harbour with a pier over 50
metres in length at this location but this may have
been a fish trap (see Virtual Hunterston site for image).
They suggest that the stretch near the cliffs is the
Haaf Weg (the sea road) used to take the bodies of kings
to Portencross for the journey to Iona where they would
be buried.

Clearly
it is important that the harbour is confirmed if this
stretch of road is to be proved Roman. If it is not,
there could still be a line from Blackshaw Hill towards
Largs.

8. Ayr - Irvine
Valley

Wilson
(2) looks at the possibility
of a road from near Monktoun towards Kilmarnock noting
the straightness of the turnpike to Spittalhill and
the continuation of this alignment along a field boundary
at NS402331 towards Stone Calsey (a name indicating
a road).

9. Cree Valley-Girvan
area

There
may have been a road or even a line of march along the
Cree Valley to the coast at Girvan where marching camps
were found. This would have provided relatively easy
access into Ayrshire from an area where it is known
the Romans were and one of Scotland's oldest roads,
The Path, runs through the area. Wilson
(2) describes the route of The Path as coming
up from Minigaff and Borland through the Glentrool Forest
west of the Water of Minnock to the Nick O' the Balloch
and then to Maybole and Ayr. It was the pre-turnpike
route from Whithorn to Ayr.

He
suggests the Roman line would have been the Cree crossing
at Machermore ford (NX413651), Challoch, Pennylane where
there is a cross, Bargrennan, then east of the Duisk
to Fardenreoch where there is another cross, then Pinwherry
and Shalloch Park.

10. Girvan
- Castledykes

St
Joseph(20)
discusses the possibility of a route to the east from
the temporary camps at Girvan. This would have run through
Old Dailly, then possibly on the line of an old estate
road through Bargany. From there, the pre-turnpike follows
this alignment to Maitland and the Kilkerran estate.
It may then have made for Straiton and Dalmellington
and Cumnock beyond. From there, the most likely route
would have been to Glenbuck past Muirkirk on much the
same line as the pre-turnpike shown by Roy. There is
no definite evidence for such a road although some stretches
of the pre-turnpike are quite straight (2).

11. Irvine -
Barochan, Balmuildy

In
1939, Crawford and Davidson(21)
suggested a road from Irvine to Barochan and Whitemoss,
or perhaps Balmuildy. The line has not been determined
but could have led from Kilwinning to the Lochwinnoch
gap close to the present Dalry and Kilbirnie roads -
geographically this is an obvious route. A number of
Roman finds have been unearthed on native sites in the
area. It would have crossed the Gryfe in Renfrewshire
if heading for Barochan and Whitemoss, or the White
Cart near to Paisley if heading for Balmuildy.

Wilson
(2) discusses two other
possible routes, a direct one through Lugton and Uplawmoor
and one through Stanecastle and Perceton to Stewarton
and north through Causeyhead and Kingsford where there
was a spittal in mediaeval times. There is a Cauldcotts
further up this road over the border in Renfrewshire
- as said, this placename, indicating a resting place
for travellers, is thought by some to be associated
with Roman roads.

Unproved

1. Loudoun Hill
to Muirkirk

This
was reported by Newall and Lonie (22)
as running from near the fort to Muirkirk
and beyond. It runs SW of Cairnsaigh Hill over the West
Burn and the Avon towards Greystone Hill until it is
finally lost in Slouch Moss. On this stretch, it is
21 foot wide with heavy kerbs, and a gravel and clay
composition.

It
then ascends the shoulder of Bankend Rig to Bibblon
Hill where red sandy clay rests on a terrace and is
covered with a hard layer with a grey clay on top. From
there it runs south of Bibblon Hill to the Polkebock
Burn where there are vestigial bridge ramps and then
to the Greenock Water west of Forkings. A farmer reported
that a footway had been ploughed out in the 1950's and
had exposed a 20-foot wide mound of grey clay with gravel
hammered into the surface. This stretch now lies under
the housing estate north of Muirkirk.

After Muirkirk, it shoulders Pepper Hill and crosses
the March Burn. From here, its course in Lanarkshire
has been traced heading for Douglas and the general
direction of Tinto.

Parts
of this route were examined by the Ordnance Survey but
were not thought to be Roman (NMRS Number NS63NW29,
NS63SE6).

2. Avisyard to Doon
Valley

Newall
and Lonie (23)
reported the continuation of
the road from Lowesmuir in the Avisyard area on a long
route to the Doon Valley. It crosses the A76 half way
between Cumnock and New Cumnock south west of Calton
Farm, then through Polquhap towards the Black Loch.
Interestingly it forms the parish boundary for over
a mile so must have been obvious to those setting this
out. It is about 12 metres wide here, with a bottoming
of dark peaty clay then dark sandy earth with a topping
of laminated crushed sandstone.

It then skirts Carnwan Hill and the south of Cargailloch
Hill where there is an accompanying hollow way. There
is another hollow way further on, east of Linn Burn.
There are no traces over Bedminnie Moss where it was
probably corduroyed (formed by laying down tied bundles
of twigs). Its course can be picked up further on, crossing
Blueboots Burn and Burnockhead Wood, which prior to
today's plantations was a boomerang shape just south
of the farm, and then to the Black Water at NS512148.

At
this point, there is a clearly defined 17th century
type holloway that follows the Roman road as far as
Auchencloigh near to Old Polquhairn. This is probably
the road shown on Armstrong's map running from Bank
(present Bankglen on the New Cumnock - Dalmellington
road) over to the present Littlemill. It has a heavy
cobbled bottom with clay on top. The Ordnance Survey
examined the area between Linn Burn and Auchencloigh
but could find no evidence of a road, other than the
holloway that they thought to be post-mediaeval (NMRS
Number NS41NE
10).

The
road continues towards Rankinston to a ford over the
Pow Burn at Ashentree. On this stretch of a mile or
so, it is accompanied by a cobble-bottomed holloway.
Beyond this point, traces are scanty but it appears
to have made towards Holehouse, which is less than a
mile from the River Doon where a Roman road is postulated.
As it is only two miles from the stretch at Barshean
Loch reported by Newall, (24)
it may well be linked to this, which entails a continuous
route from central Lanarkshire to Kirkmichael and beyond.
Again, the Ordnance Survey could not accept this stretch
to be a Roman road (NMRS Number NS41SW
12).

Conclusion

It
will be seen from the map how extensive a network is
formed when all these proposed roads are taken into
account yet as we saw only two have been proved. For
all that, there are some possible roads which further
work will help to clarify and there is a good likelihood
that the map is a fair approximation to the lines of
march taken by the Romans when they entered Ayrshire.

References

The Discovery and Excavation in Scotland (DES) references
below can be accessed here
(see Ayrshire up to 1976 then Strathclyde Regional Council
(Cunninghame, Kyle and Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Districts)
up to 1995.

1.
J G Scott, The Roman Occupation of South West Scotland
from the Recall of Agricola to the Withdrawal under
Trajan, GAJ, Vol.4, 1976